


Tommen and the Three Strange Children

by Sookiestark



Series: Three Baratheon Ghost Stories for Christmas [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Cats, Gen, Ghosts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2019-10-13 08:12:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17484428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sookiestark/pseuds/Sookiestark
Summary: Tommen has been having a bad day. He was supposed to attend the Trial of his Mother and Ser Loras. But instead, Ser Strong and his mother had forced him to stay in his room for what may be hours but it seems like days. He can't find his kittens and wonders why no one has come to check in on the King.Things become even more strange when the children come.





	1. Chapter 1

He can’t find his kittens and doesn't understand what has happened. Lady Whiskers, Boots, and Ser Pounce are always in his rooms. Ever since Margaery gave them to him, they have never left. He wonders if they are lost. It worries him. The cats soothe him. It is one of the reasons they are not allowed to leave his rooms. He knows the Ser Robert Strong guards his room and he cannot leave to find them or even tell the servants to look. He cannot leave his rooms. But it has started to worry him.

He tries to remember to tell a servant when they come but since Mother commanded him to stay, he has grown forgetful and tired. Things seem strange to him. He swears he has not seen anyone. But that is foolishness. After all, his food and wine are always replenished. The servants must come to bring fresh food and linen. He has just forgotten. 

Another strange thing, he is certain time is passing but when he looks outside the sun seems to be in the same spot and the sky appears to never change. It is always the same clear blue, not a cloud in the sky. Time is passing but perhaps it has been no longer than an hour. However, it seems like months are passing. Of course, he might just be worried about Margaery and her brother, Ser Loras. When a person is worried or anxious, time seems to pass more slowly.

If his cats were here with him, he could focus on them. Find something other than his thoughts which have grown so strange. He wonders where they are. He wonders if his mother took them from his rooms so that he knows that he is being punished, that he is in trouble. 

 

This makes King Tommen angry. When Uncle Kevan, his Hand, returns from the Sept of Baelor, he will have to have a serious talk with him. Perhaps, his wife is right and it is time for the Queen Mother to retire to Casterly Rock and rule the Westerlands. She has overstepped this time and it will be the last time. After all, he is a man grown and does not need his mother to make his choices.

Tommen is weary. He finds his time here has grown too long, and it has made him weary. He has a feeling like he is trapped here for the rest of time. Sometimes, he is certain he will open the door. After all, what will Ser Strong do? He is the King and Ser Strong must follow his command. He will approach the door, seeing himself turning the handle and demanding his Queen, his Hand, his freedom. Yet, if he actually opens the door, he finds himself back in his room with no recollection of what happened. He is not certain he has even tried. 

Tommen wonders why Margaery has not returned from the trial. Perhaps, it has gone badly for Loras. He wonders why the High Septon has not called for him to teach him about the Faith or to tell him about the Trial. He wonders where Mother is and why she has not checked on him or Uncle Kevan. Or anyone. He wonders if everyone has disappeared in the Red Keep and he is here all alone. This is a very worrisome thought. 

He can’t find his cats and it bothers him.

He fears he is going crazy or maybe he is mad already.

He opens his bedroom window and looks out over King's Landing. It is his job to look over the city and protect its people like The Father. He tries to be a good King, a good man, a good husband. He cannot wait until the Queen has a child and he can be a good father. Like a good king and a godly man, he prays. Tommen prays for strength and he prays for wisdom. He prays for patience. He reads from his prayer book. He prays for Margery that she will be allowed to visit him again. He thanks the Seven for her being released by the High Sparrow. He prays for his Mother and her upcoming trial. He prays for his Uncle Jaime at the Siege of Riverrun. He even prays for his Uncle Tyrion wherever he is. He would never tell Mother this but he loves Uncle Tyrion. He has always been his favorite uncle and he doesn’t think he hurt Joffrey. But he is too afraid of his mother to tell her this. Of course, this will all change when someone comes to help him. 

If he could find Ser Pounce, it might all be better.

There are other strange things.

There is a strange sound like crumpling of paper or the fire in the hearth. It is constant in the background, like a buzzing in his ears. It irritates him and yet it never ends. Somehow, he remembers what the sound is from but can’t quite remember, like when you can’t remember the right word. It eludes him. Lately, he has grown forgetful.

 

There are even more strange happenings and more worrisome. Besides, the constant buzzing in his ears. He has started to hear voices. Not voices, exactly. More like whispers. There are whispers of conversation that he can hear, but never quite understand, not really. It sounds as if people are having conversations around him in these rooms. But there is no one else. 

It is very concerning to him. At first, he could not really hear the distinct voices and he brushed off the sound as boredom and the quietness of his room. Once, when he was trying to sleep in his bed, he heard a woman in the throes of passion. He was certain it was just him wishing Margaery was here with him. He has convinced himself it was memories of him and Margaery. As he has been here longer, he can hear the different people; Maester Qyburn, Pate, the man who attends to the cleaning of the King’s chambers, Mother and Uncle Jaime.

Another time, when he was standing by his windows, he heard his Uncle Jaime’s voice, thick with emotion, speaking barely above a whisper, “Tommen, Tommen, what have you done?”

The Lord Commander’s voice was so close that Tommen swore he was standing in the same spot. But Uncle Jaime was in the Riverlands keeping the King’s peace. He has stopped standing by the window. 

The voice he hears most frequently is his mother’s. Like Uncle Jaime’s, it sounds as if she is standing near him, speaking in almost inaudible murmurings. When the King calls to her loudly, she does not answer or come. Once, when he was frightened and frustrated, Tommen screamed until his voice was hoarse but she did not answer him. She never answers and she never comes. He is certain he has done something wrong for his mother to treat him such but he does not remember exactly what he has done. But Mother has never treated him like this before.

Things will definitely change when the King is let from his room. This has all gone too far. Even if has only been a few hours. 

As if all these things were not troubling enough, there is one more thing which frightens him more than being alone, or the constant buzzing, or the voices, or the sense that time is not passing. It is the reason he is certain he is going mad. He is not alone in his rooms. There is a girl, hiding in here. She is relatively young, but not a small child, maybe eleven or twelve. She has light hair and pale skin with eyes so wide, they look like saucers. Her eyes are sad and her expression is strange. Tommen has spoken to her softly, asking her name or loudly, demanding she shows herself. The girl does neither. Instead, she will disappear around a corner. But even after she leaves, he can still feel her watching him. 

This is why he wishes he had some company. Things have grown strange. If only, he could find his cats.


	2. Chapter 2

Tommen sees the cat first. He wakes to a big black cat sitting next to him, cleaning itself in that bored casual way that is a cat’s way. Its yellow eyes are half closed. It is purring gently and it covers the sound that he cannot get out of his ears, that terrible crackling sound. With the cat this near, all he can hear is it's purring.

 

He must have fallen asleep.

 

“Hello, Stranger.” Tommen says petting the cat, scratching its cheeks. “Where did you come from?” 

 

The cat closes its eyes in contentment from the scratches. He wonders if this is a present from his Mother. This is a good sign. It means she might let him out soon. He hears a noise. A little girl with dark hair and eyes emerges from the bedpost, smiling in that charming sweet little girl way. Though King Tommen wonders briefly how she got in his room, he is glad to see someone. She is a small little thing, no older than four or five, and she is in a very ornate pretty dress.

When she sees the cat, her smile broadens. Without the King’s permission, in a fearless way reserved for small children, the girl climbs on the bed and starts scratching her cat. “You found him. Balerion, where have you been?” 

By the cut and design of her dress, this girl child seems to be the daughter of someone wealthy. But the look of the girl, she appears Dornish. Tommen wonders if Uncle Kevan has figured a way to broker peace with Dorne after all that has happened. Tommen wonders what Uncle Kevan has done to convince Mother. Tommen knows she will never allow it. She raged for weeks after Myrcella’s death. His mother would not give up her hatred easily and he wonders what price was paid. But the child looks Dornish and Tommen has never seen her before. Where else would she come from and how else would such a well-dressed child get in the rooms of the King? She must have wandered away from her nurse. 

This precocious child is the first person he has seen in such a long time, though it couldn’t be more than a day or two. Of course, Tommen is unsure about how much time has passed.

The little girl is all smiles, scratching her big black cat. Tommen is eager to talk to anyone and the child is agreeable and pleasant. The King scratches the cat and speaks, admiring the child’s pet “You have a very fine cat. He is a fine, fat, happy fellow.”

She smiles at him, “He is a very good cat. My Father gave him to me before he left.” 

Tommen sits up and asks the girl. “What is your name?”

“Ray,” she says, contented. “What is yours?”

Tommen realizes this girl must be younger than he first guessed and she does not know who he is. Ray is too young to understand things like Kings and Kingdoms and manners. Tommen plays along, happy to have someone to be familiar with. It reminds him of when Myrcella was still here in King’s Landing. “Oh, excuse me, my lady,” Tommen takes her hand and kisses it with an exaggerated flourish, I am King Tommen Baratheon, First of his Name, Protector of the Seven Kingdoms, King of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhoynar.”

Ray giggles, an infectious child laugh. For a moment, she looks at him confused. Quickly, she shakes her head and smiles again, “Excuse me, Your Grace. I did not know that this was your room. I thought it was my father’s.” 

The child gets up as if she will leave.

Tommen panics. He does not want to be left alone here anymore “My, lady, do not worry. I am not displeased. There is no reason for you to go. I have not been able to find my cats and it is nice to have yours to pet.”

Ray looks at him, her eyes as big as saucers. “Things are strange here, Your Grace.” 

Tommen feels sorry for the girl. Surely, it must be strange to a young child. “It can be strange here but sometimes we do not have to understand everything,” he says. They are the words his mother said to him. “I have been finding things strange here lately. I have been forgetful.”

She looks at him and sits back on the bed, and speaks to him “I understand, your Grace. I only just found Balerion and I haven't found my mother or baby brother. I wandered away and I lost them all.”

Tommen spoke, “Do not worry, Ray. You can stay here with me until Mother or Margaery or one of the servants come. They will come soon enough. They will find your mother.”

 

Tommen stands and pulls the long gold- braided cord by his bed which rings a bell in the servants quarters. 

 

The sky outside is a cloudless, clear, blue. Tommen and the girl sit by the fireplace and get Balerion to chase a ball of yarn. He finds the string mice and the catnip dragon that his cats loved to play with. Time seems to slip away like he is in a dream and he cannot wake. After some time, Tommen realizes he has fallen into one of his spells. His first realization is that unsettling feeling that he has no idea how much time has passed. Then, he feels embarrassed that he has done it again. 

The little girl is singing a song. She does not seem to notice that Tommen has lost time. She does not seem to care if he is acting strangely. Raya has a doll. It is Lysene doll with silver hair, purple eyes, and a fine porcelain face. Myrcella had dolls like this one. They are very costly. Myrcella had dozens of them. The doll’s face seems as if it is leering at him. Suddenly, Tommen feels sick like he might vomit or get a migraine. “I don't feel well, Ray. Where are the servants? When they come, have them bring dinner. Tell them I need a Maester. I do not feel well.”

Tommen looks at the table. He swears when he looked at it a moment ago it was empty but that cannot be true. It was a trick of the light. When he looks at it now, he sees the table is full of fruit, cheese, meat with milk, sweets, and water with mint. He feels sick like he is drowning in madness. His voice is trembling when he speaks, “When did the servants come?”

He staggers to get up. Tommen is certain even this child can hear the panic in his voice. This is not how a King should act or speak. 

Ray takes his hand, “Your Grace, why don’t you lie down? Take some rest. It will help. You look unwell.”

Tommen sits back on the chair. He closes his eyes and feels his heart beating rapidly, so hard it feels it might burst from his chest… He hears Ray on his left side. Suddenly, he feels someone take his right hand and speak to Ray. “Rhae.. what has happened? What did you say?” 

Opening his eyes, Tommen sees the mystery girl with her pale silver hair and lavender eyes. Finally, the girl who has been hiding around corners has revealed herself. Tommen speaks clutching the mysterious girl’s hand. He is certain she will disappear like an apparition but she feels solid in his hand. Tommen’s voice breaks. “You?... You? I know you. I have seen you in the curtains by the window. I thought you were a dream…”

Ray speaks, handing Tommen some water, “This is Jaehaera, your Grace. Jae.. this is King Tommen.”

For the first time, the strange girl, Jaehaera smiles and curtsies. Now, the mystery girl is no longer a mystery. She has a name and she is real. Perhaps, he is not going mad. Perhaps, everything can be explained. Tommen speaks after he drinks the water, trying to collect himself “Jaehaera, what an unusual name?”

“Your Grace,” Jaehaera says, like a girl who has rehearsed her manners. It reminds him a bit of his Uncle Tyrion’s wife, Lady Sansa. Jaehaera seems sad and uncomfortable in her skin like Lady Sansa had. She wears a black dress that seems outdated but embellished with pearls and crystals. Jaehaera was thin but curves were underneath her dress, almost a woman but not quite.

 

Jaehaera speaks, “Your Grace, we should go. It isn't safe for us… not here. I just came because I heard Rhaenys laughing. When I saw you almost fall, I wanted to help, but now you are safe, we must depart.” 

Tommen speaks, “No... Stay!” 

Jaehaera takes Ray by the hand as if she will leave. “We should go. We shouldn't stay. He will be angry. How many times has he told you..?.”

Tommen hopes he does not sound too desperate, but he says it anyway, cutting her off, “Please... I am your King and I command it.”

Ray looks afraid. Jaehaera looks at the King and smiles, “Of course, Your Grace. We will not leave. Your will is our pleasure but first, you must rest. We will wait.”

Suddenly, Tommen’s eyes feel heavy and he is glad they will wait while he rests. He stumbles to his bed and falls asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Tommen wakes to a boy in his room. At first, he thinks it is Joffrey and he has a feeling of fear. He hates Joff and hates it when he breaks in his room to bully or frighten him. Sometimes, at night, Joff hurts him. Peering in the darkness, Tommen sees the boy’s hair is longer than Joff’s and silver. It is not Joff, even though he stands like Joff did. 

Tommen calls out, “Who are you?”

The boy speaks with a haughty air, “The girls told me you were here. So, I came to meet you.”

Tommen doesn’t understand how he knows the girls. The boy is handsome like Joff but it it is obvious he cares about the girls and Joff didn't care about anyone. He wonders how they are all coming and going from his rooms, the room of the King. His head hurts and he rubs his forehead, trying to rub the pain out and clear his thoughts. He hears that strange noise that almost sounds like fire but there is no fire in the fireplace. Tommen asks, “Are you to be my page?”

The boy looks like he wants to tell him something, something important but the boy changes his mind and speaks carefully, “Yes, Your Grace, I am to be your squire and your companion. My name is Viserys.”

“Viserys. That is a strange name. I am Tommen... King Tommen the First, King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men.” Tommen wonders why he told him he was King. After all, the boy would know. Somehow, Tommen feels unsettled like they are in another world and the boy did not know to whom he was speaking. 

Viserys laughs, and Tommen wonders if the boy is a little touched by madness or simple, Viserys speaks, “I apologize Your Grace. I have forgotten my manners. My family is originally from Essos so yes, it might be strange sounding.”

“Did Mother send you here to by my company while I wait?” 

Viserys speaks, a clipped tone, “Your Highness, can you leave here or are you a prisoner?”

Tommen gets out of his bed and puts a robe on. Standing straight, Tommen speaks, “I am king. I can leave anytime.”

Viserys chuckles again and speaks to the empty fireplace, “Did your mother tell you that? Never trust your mother. They lie and they leave and they hurt.”

Tommen smiles and thinks this boy is unwell. As he gets closer, Tommen sees the boy seems thin and tired. He has dark circles around his eyes and he is fidgeting with his jacket. Tommen thinks he should order him from his room but the boy is about his age. Viserys seems intelligent and friendly enough. Maybe they could be friends. He has never had a friend. Only Myrcella but she was his sister. Tomme speaks gesturing to the table where his cyvasse board is.”Viserys, do you play cyvasse? Perhaps we might play a game. I could use the company.” 

They play several games of cyvasse. Viserys is charming and tells jokes and witty stories. Tommen is reminded of his Uncle Tyrion but the boy is handsome and well- made, even though it looks like he has not slept well in a long time. They play cyvasse until the clock chimes loudly announcing the hour of the bat. 

The sound startles Tommen. He is certain the clock must have been chiming every hour but he has not heard it. The sound of the chiming is loud, empty, and altogether frightening. Viserys speaks hollowly, “It is the hour of the bat, the hour for darkness, for fell deeds, for family betrayals, and for the darkness to take wings and fly.”

Then Viserys disappears. Tommen sits at his table, holding an elephant and wondering if he dreamed the boy entirely.


	4. Chapter 4

Days pass or are they moments? Tommen is uncertain. He is concerned for Margaery and her brother. He is concerned for the High Sparrow. He is concerned for his mother but as time passes, it lessens. Sometimes he forgets them completely, forgets there is a life out of this room. When this happens, he no longer hears the crackling sound, and he no longer feels the guilt.

It is an entirely unsettling feeling like he is losing something. Tommen is certain he knows what it is; he is losing his mind. 

Why would he feel guilt? He has not done anything wrong. 

However, in his rooms, he has begun to care for these three strange children.

 

His mother was many things but she always gave them the greatest care. So it is easy for him to care for the children. For Ray, he starts by brushing and braiding her hair. Tommen remembers Mother brushing Myrcella’s hair. Sometimes, she would let him. He remembers how it was like spun gold or sunshine in his fingers. He and Jaehaera make a game of it. Jae is better at braiding but she often snags one of Rhaenys many curls and the child cries out. Tommen never pulls her hair. He is patient and steady.  
Jaehaera likes dancing and to play with her dolls. He is much taller than her but he remembers how his father, King Robert, once danced with Myrcella on his feet. Tommen does this or sometimes he picks her up and swings her. Jaehaera will giggle with delight and say more. Usually, this makes Ray beg for him to do the same.

He wishes he had been a father. Remembering the HIgh Sparrow encouraging him to make an heir with Margaery, he thinks it would have been nice to have a child of his own. Tommen sometimes thinks why does he not think he will have the chance. After all, he is still young and he will be released from this room. 

Then there is Viserys. He is still moody and sometimes unpredictable but he is turning into a friend. Sometimes, they will spar with wooden swords or wrestle. Tommen wonders if this is what having a brother should have been like. Sometimes, when the girls are asleep, Viserys asks him about what it is like to be married and to have a wife, to know the sweet touch of a woman. Tommen feels a swell of pride when he talks of Margaery, but he no longer feels the desire he once did for her. 

They become almost like a family.

 

He is sure he is crazy. After all, how long could they possibly be in this room, a few hours, a few days? Surely, not even a week has passed. Or Tommen is completely mad and Mother has locked him away for his own good but where are the Maesters, the servants, his jailor? 

One morning, it happens. 

Tommen looks toward the city and wonders why was he so afraid? There is the Street of Silk, the Street of Steel, Flea Bottom, Visenya’s Hill, and the Dragon Pit. The noise gets louder, that dreaded crackling sound as he approaches the window. He hears Jaehaera say in a frightened voice, “No Your Grace, do not go near the window! Do not get too close!”

But Tommen is transfixed, mesmerized by the city. Why has he not looked out the window? The sky is clear and the city is as it always has been. He has looked out this window, hundreds of time. Nothing is changed. He feels like he has done this every night for a thousand years.

Suddenly, Tommen knows why he is afraid. The Sept of Baelor is gone. He cannot find it. Instead, there is a burned black ruin where it stood. He feels a hand and looks toward it. It is from Ray. She takes his hand, “Your Grace, we should not look.”

He looks at her dress and starts to see the faintest stains appearing like wine soaking in her dress. How odd! She does not even hold a glass and wine soaks from the outside in, not the inside out. But it is a deep red like wine.

 

“Let him look,” Viserys says, sprawled out in a chair. “Maybe this time he will remember.” 

 

Tommen remembers and steps to the window. His mother did this. It comes back to him, the huge waves of despair, the guilt, the loss of Margaery, his mother’s betrayal. The fact that Tommen has failed his people, his beautiful wife, her proud family, the High Sparrow, and the Seven. He climbs up on the ledge and he thinks about all his failures and the darkness threatens to swallow him another time.

“Tommen….”

He hears the familiar voice and he turns around to see her. It is Myrcella. She has finally come here to help him, to save him.

She is a vision of beauty, like the Maiden herself. 

“Myrcella..?”

Myrcella speaks softly, her hands raised to him. There are orange blossoms in her hair and she is dressed in a yellow dress of silk. “Tommen... Sweet Tommen. It is time for us to go. You know this. We are dead. There is no reason to jump anymore. Come down".

Even as she spoke, Tommen sees the blood rush from her nose and eyes from the poison. Looking toward Ray, he saw Ray’s dress, seeping red blood, a hundred slashes in her body and face, a red ruin. He sees Jaehaera; her head broken open and her body splayed out awkwardly. But the momentary vision of Viserys and what was done to him is truly the stuff of nightmares. In one glimpse, the vision of how they all died and their bodies in death disappears. 

But Myrcella is here now. Tommen takes his sister’s hand and steps down.

In a second, she is in his arms and he is hugging her tightly. Myrcella kisses his cheek, “Come, let’s go from here.”

Tommen goes to follow her, wherever she takes him. He is leaving this room with his beloved sister. But he remembers the three children.

Pulling her back, Tommen stops, “I cannot leave them here.” 

Myrcella smiles, “Of course not. We will bring them.” 

Tommen smiles. Of course, Myrcella would understand. She was always the best of them. Mother said it a hundred times. 

Tommen extends his arm to Jaehaera and she takes it gently. Myrcella picks up Rhaenys, like she was her mother, touching her hair, “Come, little dove. You are so pretty. You look like a Dornish Princess. I lived in Dorne once...”

Tommen looks Viserys, his hand extended. “You should come... You have waited a long time. Longer than all of us.”

The boy seems hesitant. He has had his anger for so long. Viserys does not know what it might be like to not have it. But Myrcella’s sweet smile breaks him, “My Prince, come with us. It is time, time to rest, to give our hurts and hopes to someone else. Our anger and our anguish are useless now.”

Viserys steps toward her and takes her hand 

“Come,” she says and they all follow her into the bright light.


End file.
